A Study of the Acquisition of Competitive Information in Business Simulations

Authors

  • Peter M. Markulis SUNY Geneseo
  • Michael Nugent SUNY Stony Brook
  • Daniel R. Strang SUNY Geneseo

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of the use of competitor in-formation in computerized simulations. Specifically, it exam-ines if, and how, students playing a generalized business simu-lation purchase, and use, competitor information to assist them in making strategic decisions. The paper first reviews the liter-ature on the topic, which surprisingly is sparse. The remainder of the paper is an examination of a series of hard data (actual purchasing decisions) and self-report data relating to the stu-dents purchasing rationales. The paper concludes that students purchase information but use it mainly to watch their competi-tors. In general students do not seem to know what else to do with competitor information. Finally, the study notes that stu-dents purchasing significant amounts of competitor information do not necessarily perform better than students purchasing less competitor information.

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